Every few years the family of Joey Didier must relive the nightmare of March 4, 1975.

On that day, 15-year-old Joey never came home from his paper route on Fulton Avenue in Rockford. His body was found 11 days later in a cabin in Jo Daviess County. He had been brutally raped and strangled.

Robert Henry Lower was convicted of the crime in 1975 and was sentenced to 100 to 150 years, but under the old indeterminate sentencing system in Illinois, no matter how long the sentence or how heinous the crime, an inmate eventually could be considered for parole.

Lower will try for parole for the 19th time. He's been denied every time, and he's never even received a vote for parole from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

Let's keep it that way.

What is enough time behind bars for a crime like this? Each time Lower comes up for parole, we review the facts of this case and conclude that life behind bars is the only fair punishment and the only way to ensure that the public is protected. Joey Didier was not Lower's first victim. There's only one way to guarantee that he was the last.

Were Lower to be convicted of this crime today, he most likely would be sent away for life without the possibility of parole. It is only because he was sentenced in this state under a different sentencing law that he regularly comes up for parole.

Whenever Lower is up for parole, petitions asking that he remain in prison are circulated throughout the community and thousands of people sign them. The Rockford Register Star also puts an electronic petition on our website.

In previous years, we've included a coupon that could be cut out and sent to us for forwarding to the parole board. This year if you can't sign our online petition, you can send a letter to: Illinois Prisoner Review Board: 319 E. Madison St, Suite A, Springfield, IL 62701.

More than 20,000 signatures online, on a form, through a coupon, etc., have been collected each time Lower has been up for parole. Those letters and petition signatures make a difference,

At least one killer with as long a sentence as Lower's has gone free in the past decade. Malcolm Wright was paroled in 2005. He served 29 years for the 1976 stabbing death of Marjorie Peterson in Rockford.

The only objection the Review Board considered before voting for Wright's release was a letter from the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office.

That wasn't enough. That's why these petition drives are so important ­— to let the Prisoner Review Board know how much the crime affected the community and how much damage a prisoner's release could do.

Page 2 of 3 - It's unfair that the Didier family has to relive the nightmare every few years around the holidays and into the start of a new year. It's not fair that the family has to circulate petitions at a time it should be enjoying circulating Christmas cards.

It would be worse if Lower were ever allowed to go free.

Please sign a petition today.

Every few years the family of Joey Didier must relive the nightmare of March 4, 1975.

On that day, 15-year-old Joey never came home from his paper route on Fulton Avenue in Rockford. His body was found 11 days later in a cabin in Jo Daviess County. He had been brutally raped and strangled.

Robert Henry Lower was convicted of the crime in 1975 and was sentenced to 100 to 150 years, but under the old indeterminate sentencing system in Illinois, no matter how long the sentence or how heinous the crime, an inmate eventually could be considered for parole.

Lower will try for parole for the 19th time. He's been denied every time, and he's never even received a vote for parole from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

Let's keep it that way.

What is enough time behind bars for a crime like this? Each time Lower comes up for parole, we review the facts of this case and conclude that life behind bars is the only fair punishment and the only way to ensure that the public is protected. Joey Didier was not Lower's first victim. There's only one way to guarantee that he was the last.

Were Lower to be convicted of this crime today, he most likely would be sent away for life without the possibility of parole. It is only because he was sentenced in this state under a different sentencing law that he regularly comes up for parole.

Whenever Lower is up for parole, petitions asking that he remain in prison are circulated throughout the community and thousands of people sign them. The Rockford Register Star also puts an electronic petition on our website, rrstar.com.

In previous years, we've included a coupon that could be cut out and sent to us for forwarding to the parole board. This year if you can't sign our online petition, you can send a letter to: Illinois Prisoner Review Board: 319 E. Madison St, Suite A, Springfield, IL 62701.

More than 20,000 signatures online, on a form, through a coupon, etc., have been collected each time Lower has been up for parole. Those letters and petition signatures make a difference,

At least one killer with as long a sentence as Lower's has gone free in the past decade. Malcolm Wright was paroled in 2005. He served 29 years for the 1976 stabbing death of Marjorie Peterson in Rockford.

The only objection the Review Board considered before voting for Wright's release was a letter from the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office.

Page 3 of 3 - That wasn't enough. That's why these petition drives are so important ­— to let the Prisoner Review Board know how much the crime affected the community and how much damage a prisoner's release could do.

It's unfair that the Didier family has to relive the nightmare every few years around the holidays and into the start of a new year. It's not fair that the family has to circulate petitions at a time it should be enjoying circulating Christmas cards.